Today’s video is all about our visit to Lviv (Львів).
Having come straight from Kiev (Київ), Lviv offered a real change of scenery.
The city was much smaller, more walkable, and it looked distinctly Central European.
In some ways, it reminded us of a smaller version of Krakow or Prague, though a little
rough around the edges.
But enough about first impressions; let us actually show you around.
In this video we’re going to take you on a grand tour of the city and highlight 20
things to do in Lviv on your next visit.
A solid day of sightseeing needs to start with a good breakfast, and after walking around
the Old Town a bit, we found a place to eat: a post office-themed cafe!
This is so amazing.
This is so much more beautiful than I was expecting.
So right in front of me I've got these crepes with apple and walnuts.
And just look at the way they've like folded them and like twirled them.
Like it is so pretty and it has cottage cheese as well.
Icing sugar, cinnamon.
Like this is a gorgeous work of art.
I almost don't want to dig into it.
Haha.
Aside from crepes, we also ordered pancakes, cappuccinos, and verguny served with cream,
so it was a bit of a sugar kick, but what a tasty way to start the morning.
Alright guys, I was super excited to visit the Armenian Church (Հայկական տաճար)
and it is not open.
It looks like it has been undergoing some renovations so we're just going to have to
peek through the gates.
There is some concrete bags and yeah this is all we can see which is too bad.
Okay, so the Armenian Church (Вірменський собор - Katedra ormiańska) may have
been closed but there is no shortage of churches in this city so we've come across another
one.
The Transfiguration Church (Преображенська церква) so we're going to go inside
and have a look.
Like in Kyiv (Київ), we quickly discovered that Lviv is a city of churches, so our next
stop was the Church of the Holy Communion (Домініканський костел
і монастир).
This was our third church of the day, and it wouldn’t be our last.
So we haven't exactly been having the best of luck with churches and cathedrals today.
First one was under repair, the second one we weren't supposed to film but we got a few
shots very discreetly.
And the 3rd one there was a wedding.
Sunshine!
What have we found here?
Well so far we've been just wandering around Lviv (Львів) for a little while and we've
found a lot of cool markets.
Like there is touristy ones but there is also some more local ones like just behind me here
people are selling books and it is a little bit of a flea market going on as well.
Yeah.
We then visited the Dormition Church (Успенська церква), also known as the Assumption
Church, where yes, there was yet another wedding taking place!
(Ukrainian signing)
Needing a little break from ecclesiastical architecture, we walked over to the Lviv’s
Town Hall, where we decided to climb to the top of the Bell Tower for some views of the
city.
I'm totally out of breathe.
That is a lot steeper and higher than I thought.
Yeah.
And yeah we're almost there though.
It is super stuffy there is hardly any air.
The views will be worth it.
We're not actually done though.
Oh, woah.
It continues.
Made it to the top.
The views are worth it but we've been climbing so many towers I almost feel like we should
be getting paid to be going up them instead of paying ourselves.
There was like no air in this tower.
It was so stuffy.
It was kind of gross.
It smelled funny.
Yeah, as we were going up it started to smell like farts.
Haha, Sam.
I think someone let a bomb go.
I'm not kidding.
Maybe it was Sam.
No it wasn't me.
Or maybe not.
It was not me.
And after climbing up and down hundreds of rickety stairs, it was time for lunch!
So it was like mid-afternoon.
This is our first full day of like wandering around the Old town.
Yeah.
And we walked by this place I saw people eating sushi and it looked so good.
And we're like we have this massive craving for that.
To be fair we've had a lot of Ukrainian food while we've been here so I feel like it is
nice to mix it up a bit.
Yeah, and it is good to show like there is really good International Food in Ukraine
(Україна) so yeah yeah we've ordered a whole bunch of different uh sushi rolls.
Sushi rolls and I have a big beer coming up and so yeah I'm just kind of in my happy place
right now.
The food is here.
I've got my miso.
Lots of sushi.
I've almost finished my Warcraft beer.
And oh my gosh this is our favorite.
Philadelphia rolls.
Yeah.
Cream cheese, avocado, salmon.
We basically just got different combinations of that.
Basically.
Both those are like the main ingredients in all of our sushi.
Mmmm.
This was such a good idea.
His happy place.
That is all I'm going to say.
And keeping with the theme of churches, after our sushi lunch, we visited the Bernardine
Church in the south end of the Old Town; followed by the Latin Cathedral (Лати́нський
собо́р - Katedra Łacińska), which sits in the southwest corner of Market Square;
and finally the Jesuit Church, where if you can believe it, we stumbled upon yet another
wedding!
Clearly, it was wedding season.
(Church choir)
So that was our 6th church of the day.
It was the former Jesuit Church.
Hi.
Sam is just popping in to say hello.
Um, it was my favorite church so far.
It was under renovations, scaffolding inside, the ceiling looked like it was crumbling down
but there was a wedding taking place.
Yes.
So we were able to like stand there and watch it and it was really cool.
They had a beautiful choir.
That afternoon, we also came across Lviv’s Souvenir Market, where you can find everything
from matryoshka dolls and painted landscapes, to traditional clothes and football gear.
The market is located just east of the Lviv Theatre (Львівська оперa - Opera
Lwowska), and on that note, here you can get tickets for the ballet and the opera for very
affordable prices.
Now let’s move on to food.
Lest you think all we ate in Lviv (Lwów) was pancakes and sushi, we also made time
to visit a traditional restaurant outside the Old Town, called Seven Piggies (Сім
поросят).
Alright guys, it is lunchtime here in Lviv (Львів) and we tried to find the most
traditional Ukrainian restaurant that we could and that is how we ended up at Seven Piggies
(Сім поросят) and yeah I can tell you taxidermy is really popular.
Lots of stuffed animals.
There is like beavers and squirrels and owls.
Um, it is very colorful.
It is all white walls but is is like decorated with these bright flowers.
So yeah, it is super cool.
We're the only ones here and our food has arrived.
Okay.
Banosh (Банош).
We ordered dishes like Banosh, a maize porridge prepared with salty sheep cheese, eggs and
bacon; black dumplings, which were a little different from the varenyky we’d become
used to; a soup served in a ceramic bowl with bread cooked overtop; and a pork leg with
the most tender meat ever.
This apparently is the house specialty.
They have actually named this dish after the restaurant and it is the 7 pigs and it is
a huge pork leg (ГОМІЛОЧКА “СІМ ПОРОСЯТ”).
It appears like they have like a cheese or melted cheese.
Melted cheese sauce and I'm just going to like carve off a huge.
That looks good.
Look how big that is.
Oh man, the meat looks so tender.
It does.
It looks really tender.
So I'm going to get some sauce on that and take a huge bite.
Ooh.
My gosh that is such nice meat.
So tender and actually it is not a cheese sauce it is a mustard sauce.
Oh, it has got a kick to it.
Yeah.
Totally different than what I thought.
Alright guys, so this afternoon we are visiting the Lviv Historical Museum.
Pretty cool but you have to wear special slippers to get in here.
This is one of the oldest and richest museums in Ukraine (Україна) in terms of its
artefacts, and if you’re feeling a bit peckish after that, they have a charming cafe right
in the Italian Courtyard, which is well worth the visit.
And not too far from there, you also have the Lviv Arsenal, which houses the Weaponry
Museum featuring items from the Late Middle Ages through to the 20th century.
So I spy a little creature over your shoulder.
Oh, who could that be?
Where could we be?
We're at a cat cafe.
Cat cafe.
It is such a nice surprise.
We had no idea this was here.
We just kind of found it spontaneously and yeah we both love cats.
Well actually I like cats even more than you.
I like dogs.
No, you actually secretly love cats.
No, I like dogs.
Audrey secretly loves cats but we're going to go in right now and check it out.
Okay.
So we made it inside the cat cafe.
We're currently being ignored by the cats.
Actually there is children running around peaking under our table to see if we're hiding
any cats.
No, cats anywhere near us.
Yeah.
So yeah, we're going to dig into the cake and this one is called the cat cafe cake which
is their signature dish I guess.
So my cheesecake has arrived.
Take a look down here.
And this is the traditional um Ukrainian kind.
It is called Cernik (xxx).
I think it may also share the same name in Poland.
I remember in Poland it was called Sernik (xxx) too.
Maybe very similar names.
But it is a very thick type of cheesecake and it is really good.
Mmmm.
Very dense.
Dense cheesecake.
I like it.
For a more unusual attraction in Lviv (Львів), you have the Yard of Lost Toys, which is a
makeshift graveyard and outdoor museum for toys that have been lost of left behind.
Apparently, it all started when a resident from one of the apartment blocks along Mukachivska
Street found two lost toys and placed them in the shared courtyard, and it kind of grew
from there.
So, we’ve already shown you views of the Old Town from the Bell Tower, but another
free alternative is walking up Castle Hill (Високий замок - Замкова
гора - Wysoki Zamek).
It’s a pretty easy walk along a defined path, just don’t go expecting a castle at
the top because all that remains are a few ruins.
Lastly, let’s talk about transportation in the city.
The tram (Львівський Трамвай) is hands down the cheapest way to get around
Lviv (Львів), and while you can still see a few older ones around, modern trams
are slowly taking over, so it’s a fairly reliable way to get around town.
And that’s a wrap for our visit to Lviv, Ukraine (Україна).
We found this to be a charming city with a completely different look and feel from Kiev
(Киев), so we’re glad we added this stop to our itinerary.
If you’re short on time, this is a great destination for a weekend escape.
Now you know the drill, if you have any other suggestions of cool things to do around Lviv
(Львів), feel free to share those with fellow travellers in the comments below.
Wishing you happy travels and until next time!